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HST 410/510 Internships

What OSU students say about doing internships:

“I loved interning at the Benton County Museum! I am now seriously considering pursuing a career in museum studies because this internship was the highlight of my term. I highly recommend an internship with the museum to any history major or minor, even if they never considered public history because it is a much more profound experience than one would expect.”

Alyssa Froman (Benton County Museum)

"One of my main goals coming into the internship was to understand

what it meant to work in a museum… The process was much easier than I expected. I highly recommend the

internship program to any student who wants to understand what it means to work as an historian and have a great time doing it!"

Noah Weldon (Albany Regional Museum)

“I began this internship knowing nothing about the museum world and within 10 weeks I learned an extraordinary amount. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to handle artifacts, conduct research, accession items, and sift through photographs. I learned something new every day and I enjoyed every moment. It taught me precisely what I had hoped to learn, and then some.”

Jacqueline Portillo (Benton County Museum)

"The internship was a joy both from a learning and practical standpoint."

Joshua McGuffie (OSU Special Collections)

The best way to gain experience working in public history at OSU is to perform a for-credit internship. Internships help you learn more about working in a variety of history and heritage occupations, gain valuable practical experience, and earn credit toward your major.

There are several local organizations at which students often do internships, but we also encourage you to consider doing a summer internship at a historical or heritage organization near your hometown. We work with institutions all over the state to place interns throughout the year. OSU students have performed internships at the Benton County Historical Museum, Albany Regional Museum, Hood River Historical Society, and OSU's own Special Collections and Archives Research Center, among others.

If you have completed at least 12 credits in History and have at least a 3.0 History GPA, contact public history coordinator Dr. Eliza Barstow (barstowe@oregonstate.edu) to discuss for-credit internship opportunities.